Timeline for Marijuana Legalization in the United States: How the Dominoes Are Falling
Let's first differentiate two actions states have taken with respect to marijuana. Decriminalization refers to the relaxation of criminal penalties associated with personal marijuana use. Oregon was the first state to decriminalize marijuana in 1973. The state imposed just a $100 fine for possession of up to an ounce.
Over the next 15 years following Oregon's legal change, at least a dozen other states decriminalized marijuana. But decriminalization merely lowered or removed the sting from anti-marijuana laws. Manufacturing and selling marijuana remained illegal.